Fanfare. Dickie and Mrs Masher got out on Saturday night. Yes indeedy. I told her it was to get into training for the round of Gigs soon coming my way and for which I need to get into training.
What’s more in one evening we got to see three Bands – all of them completely different.
We start our Gig crawl at The Bridge in Rotherham where my good friends Karen and Nigel were playing with the rest of their ever improving Band Swansong. They just get better each time I see them with their mix of good old fashioned R & B filling the pub with great sound. In my view they are a great example of a Band that “keeps things simple, stupid” by playing songs that fit into the talents of the Band, rather than being over adventurous and leaving the audience with a sense of half full. No – Swansong leave you feeling that you have a full glass, with Karen’s hypnotising voice pulling you into the performance, where the backing instrumentals are tight and come to the fore at all the right times. Well done guys.
And here hot of the press is a clip from the night........... brilliant GO HERE
And here hot of the press is a clip from the night........... brilliant GO HERE
As a complete contrast, Mrs Masher dragged me a hundred yards up the road to the Rotherham Trades Club where Scar tribute Band Complete Madness were in action.
Complete Madness can now be referred to as veterans of the Yorkshire music scene, which perhaps in itself is the problem I seem to have with them now. Don’t get me wrong, the music they play from Madness, The Specials and Buster Blood Vessel will forever be very popular, upbeat and exciting, but looking and listening at their performance I couldn’t help but feel that it had all become too sanitised.
We got in for the second set, and seeing the Band all smartly uniformed in brick red trousers and checked shirts while looking very smart just seemed a little out of place with the music. In fact I found it out of step with the music which while at the top end and in technical ability and professionalism lacked the energy I’ve come to expect from Complete Madness. This was all just a little too slick for a gene of music that takes it’s excitement and energy from it’s rawness and fun.
Just my feeling. The brilliance of the musicianship of course cannot be questioned.
And then to finish the evening a visit to Rawmarsh Trades and Labour for yet another genre of Band, a general cover Show Band going under the name of Evoke. Pretty run of the mill stuff as the Daydream Believer finale testifies to. I’m also pretty sure that outside of Club Land you’d find them playing something completely different.
So a great evening was had.
Onwards.
The Acoustic Rotherham Web Site is now showing signs of the changes I’ve been making. I really hope that those of you who have been put off making visits because pages have hung etc will take a look at the new construction. Early testing and reaction is positive so please check it out and let me know what you think acousticrotherham@jmucreate.com
Acoustic Rotherham 10 is taking shape. I’m still short of a few publicity details but those that I have can be found HERE. Also I’ve updated the Acoustic Rotherham Reverbnation player with tracks from the artists. There are some brilliant acts and performers on show this Month so get the word out there for us. Thanks.
We’re also promised food again this quarter. Yippee.
Besides Acoustic Rotherham 10 on 30th January there are a lot of exceptional Gigs beyond the normal Club meetings coming up over the next month or so. In Barnsley on the 5th February there is a Folk Against Fascism Fund Raiser at the Civic Hall – you can check out the full details HERE. On the 11th February Ray Hearne heads up Toein’In The Dark, Tina McKevitt and Matt Hegarty + The Rawmarsh Masher in a fund raiser for Thornberry Animal Sanctuary and on 18th February there will a fantastic mixture of acoustic and electric music at The Star in Rotherham to raise money for the Rawmarsh Comp Save Our School Campaign. All known details can be found HERE
In addition to the fund raisers above, The Rawmarsh Masher also has Gigs at Henry Boons in Wakefield and The Wellington in Hull – anything to get him out of South Yorkshire. Full details HERE
Wath Festival tickets have gone on sell details HERE, and most important of all The Wath Young People’s Award entries are open for this year. The Winner as part of their prize gets to perform at the last major showcase concert of the year. There is a promise that this year the Festival is going to get the fringe events sorted, e.g. the singarounds etc, fingers crossed. Let’s also hope that they get sign posting sorted to.
A reminder to that on 25th January The MBMT Wandering Folk Club is meeting for a Burns Night Special – preceded by a General Meeting of The Trust, the Agenda and Minutes of the last meeting can be found HERE
And that sums up everything that has been happening and is due to happen over the coming weeks. It’s going to be a busy old time.
Thanks again for all those who have taken the time to send good wishes about my current round of health issues, they are much appreciated. Currently I’m waiting for the results to come in from the Tests of the last week, but it’s strange, I feel better knowing that a Doctor is at last taking the issues seriously and that we will eventually get to root cause of the problems.
Just a reminder that you can keep up to date instantly with everything Acoustic Rotherham and Masher, right down to the state of the weather by following us on Facebook – head off HERE - For those who have been tuning into Myspace, please don’t bother at the moment, the site is just not working at the moment, many of us remain hopeful that they’ll get it right soon.
And to finish with a political point. Can anyone explain to me how the Liberals can claim that the Oldham Bye Election was a minor success for them when despite help from the Tories they managed to see a deficit of less than 200 in May turn into one of over 3,500? I think it says something a little more to the Liberals than “carry on” which is what Nick said it meant. Just goes to show how thick some Public School Boys can be.
So whatever you’re doing this week have fun and keep it live.
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